Happy birthday Baird!
by Baird's Girl 1997
Summary: Happy birthday Dear Damon, happy birthday to you! (Gears of War belongs solely to Epic Games)


Ok, so me and my sis thought it would fun if Delta threw a party for Baird on his birthday. After sharing some ideas, here's what I came up with. Hope you enjoy and don't forget to tell me what you think!

Baird stalked into his room, slamming the door behind him. Trying to drown out the shouts of his comrades, he paced back and fourth, shoulders raised.

_Couldn't those morons take a hint?_

He had been ignoring them the entire day, but they still insisted on following him, talking about…..

He was personally going to kill the jackass who told them what today was.

"Damon?!" the south island accent rang through his ears, leaving a bad taste in his mouth. Plopping himself down on an old swivel chair, Baird let his arms go limp while placing his forehead on the oak desk in front of him.

God, he hated this time of year.

"Damon, open the door and stop being such a-" Sam's sentence was cut short by the swinging of hinges, and she smiled as Baird leaned in the doorframe, brows raised but eyes half lidded.

"Happy Birthday!" everyone shouted simultaneously as a handful of rainbow confetti flew in the mechanic's direction.

Keeping his arm's crossed, Baird surveyed the semi-circle that surrounded his door, recognizing each of the faces that made it up. Along with Sam, there was Cole, Dom, Carmine, (who was holding a bag that Baird guessed was the confetti), Bernie, Anya and Marcus. Even Delta Squad's sergeant looked less serious then usual, which only added to the blonde's frustration.

"That all?" he asked flatly, beginning to close the door to his room. Dom quickly placed a gloved hand on the doorframe, rolling his eyes. "Come on man; don't be like that. It's your Birthday!" The Latino mustered a smile, although the attitude of his longtime squad mate was obviously getting on his nerves. Stepping forward, Cole slapped Delta's unwilling birthday-boy on the back saying, "Yeah Damon baby, we all gotcha a lil' somthin somthin, and Anya even made a cake!"

Baird stole a glance at the blonde lieutenant, noticing that she was smiling and blushing slightly.

"You know," he replied, a mock smile on his face, "That almost sounds like fun, but I'm afraid the idiot convention is goin' to _have_ to go on without me." Not waiting for a response, he frowned and started to close the door. Suddenly, Clay threw another handful of confetti in his face, smiling.

"Carmine, I'm telling you to knock it off!" Baird clenched his teeth as he raised his voice, trying to grab the bag away from the larger gear. Clay quickly tucked his hand behind his back, causing the mechanic to lose his footing and step forward. Immediately, Sam closed the door with a thump, leaving Baird in the hallway with the rest of the group.

He sighed, wondering if it was too late to kill himself.

Looking squarely at Bernie, Baird's eyes narrowed while he feverishly attempted to get the sparkly paper off his shoulders.

"This your idea granny?"

The older gear smiled, brushing her hand against his chest in an attempt to remove some of the confetti.

"I wish I could take _all_ the credit, but I only helped." She noticed his irritated expression lessen slightly, and she continued, encouraged. "Besides, a _little_ fun won't hurt you blondie."

"Come on guys, it's getting late." Anya jumped into the conversation, her small form huddling deeper into the hoodie she was wearing as the drafty halls became colder from the fresh snowfall outside.

All eyes were locked on Baird, waiting for a response as he leaned against the door to his room.

Finally, after a few awkward seconds of silence, he shrugged, which was all the confirmation they needed. Sam smiled, and Cole jumped enthusiastically, followed by one of his signature "Whoos!"

As they started forward, Baird stayed behind the line of commotion, rubbing his eyes tiredly. Downcast thoughts entered his head, and he suddenly found himself wondering how long it had been since anybody even _knew_ it was his birthday, besides from Cole. He sighed, and tried to shake the melancholic flashbacks of childhood birthdays (or lack thereof) out of his mind.

A poke on his shoulder interrupted further thoughts, and the startled mechanic turned to see Bernie standing next to him. The older woman was looking up at the male gear, a caring look in her eyes, although Baird thought he saw more concern then cognition.

"You ok blondie?" she asked softly, the tone of her voice betraying her otherwise composed expression.

He shrugged.

Was he ok? These days, it was getting hard to tell.

Opening his mouth to say something, Baird's ears were distracted by suppressed whispers near the front of the line, although Cole's attempt at secrecy obviously fell flat.

He suddenly noticed that their small convoy had come to a halt and, smiling softly at Bernie, Baird patted her on the back before making his way to the front of the line.

Before walking a few feet, Sam approached him and placed a hand on his chest, stopping him midway. As a brassy grin spread across her face, she stood on tiptoes and looked over her shoulder before facing her male companion.

"Close your eyes." She said quickly, retaining her confident smile.

"Sam, I really don't-"

"Do it." She responded, her tone becoming authoritative while still managing to sound pleasant.

Any other day, Baird would've protested further, but right now, all he wanted was to get this over with.

He shut his eyes, making it obvious that he rolled them before doing so.

Allowing Sam to take his hand, she led him down the long hallway, and pretty soon, they entered the mess hall, or at least Baird assumed it was the mess hall judging by the slight aroma of overcooked food.

After weaving through multiple benches that served as both tables and chairs, Baird eventually found himself being brought to the end of the long room.

Cole told him to keep his eyes closed and to sit down, and as he did so, he heard excited chatter coming from the rest of the group. Although he couldn't decipher most of what they were saying, Baird made out a few broken sentences;

_Do you think he'll like- _

_I wonder if- _

_Should we sing?_

Baird made out the last sentence as Cole's voice, and immediately contravened their idea, although careful to keep his eyes shut.

"I swear, if you guys start singing, I'll kill myself, and then haunt you. _For allll eternity_." He ended his sentence in a ghost-like tone while folding his arms over his chest.

"Come on Damon, our singin' ain't that bad is it?" Cole asked.

Baird snorted, replying sarcastically, "Are you kidding? I should sign you guys up for the church choir."

The former thrash ball player laughed heartily, and then went back to talking with the others.

Five more minutes of whispering nearly caused Baird to open his eyes prematurely, but finally, Sam shouted "Okaay, open!"

Barely giving her time to finish the sentence, Baird blinked his eyes open, trying to adjust them to the glaring light that shown overhead. Looking down, he saw a small cake placed in front of him, as well as something covered under an old piece of cloth. The walls in that corner of the mess hall were covered in crêpe paper, resembling streamers, and Carmine had been sure to deck the entire table in a mass of colorful confetti. "Look Baird, we even got strawberry. Your favorite." Carmine said while gesturing towards the container of pink ice cream on the table. Baird looked up at him, a little creeped out. How'd they know that?

_Cole….._

Everyone was holding drinks, and Marcus quickly slid one down to Baird as he took his place next to Anya.

Trying not to smile, Baird rubbed the back of his neck; a sure sign that he was, for once, speechless. Knowing that the tips of his ears were turning red, he tried to hide it by taking a quick swig of beer and stating "You know all birthdays are good for is to signify that your one year closer to death right?"

Everyone in the room fell silent as all eyes stiffly landed on Bernie, who was the oldest in the group by far.

Dom looked down in his beer bottle and swished the contents around silently before mumbling _"Nice one Baird"_ and taking a long drink.

Bernie laughed the awkward salute off; smiling before saying, "You know what blondie, when you're my age, you're allowed to complain. Now blow out the candle and make a wish."

"Yeah, in your dreams." Baird retorted; decent enough to at least _sound_ sorry for the previous comment. Licking the tip of his thumb and pointer, he pressed the wick of the candle between his fingers, ending the flame's short life with a hiss.

"Good enough." Sam shrugged while taking the stumpy candle out of the cake, licking the frosting off the other end.

Before anyone could attempt to take a slice, Cole hovered his massive hand over the plate.

"Open your present Damon." He said quickly, a smile growing across his face as he gestured towards the package that sat near the end of the table.

Baird placed his hand on the back of the cloth covered box and slid it closer.

"Oh boy! I hope it's a puppy!" He said while removing the material, trying really hard not to look curious.

"Wishful thinking smartass." Marcus replied in his gravelly tones while Anya tried to conceal laughter by burying her face in his shirt collar. Baird raised his middle finger at the sergeant, but kept his face turned down while opening the now uncovered box.

Inside were two small radios which were identical to each other, looking as close to new as things came those days. Picking up one of the machines, Baird began examining it carefully, turning it every which way to see it from a better angle.

"Where did you get these?" he asked quickly, not bothering to give his companions eye contact. Sam giggled and placed her hands on his shoulders.

"So we did good then?"

"Well, yeah, I mean, I've been needing these for….."

Baird looked behind his shoulder to see Sam smiling at him.

Suddenly, he caught on to something; they were listening.

He had mentioned those radios days ago, not even realizing that anyone had even heard him. Hell, they weren't _that_ important; he was just collecting scrap parts for repairs. Now here they were, and for the first time in a while, Baird was adulated to think that someone had cared enough to get them.

He looked up at Sam, then back at the rest of the group before saying awkwardly, "Hey ugh, thanks."

Bernie smiled and ruffled his blonde hair, causing him to pull away, quickly adding "I mean, if that was the _best_ you could do." A sarcastic grin had already replaced his previously genuine expression, and he silently hoped that no one had noticed it.

"We'll try to do better next year. Can we have the cake now?" Dom quipped with a laugh, shooting a pleading glance at Anya, who was holding the cake knife.

Baird smiled inside. _Next year_ defiantly didn't sound so bad.


End file.
